Nico had been scheduled to go to Thailand to see the Starboard developers and top guys after the Defi wind, anyway.
It's no big surprise that he did not have any crashes on the lake in his video. There were barely any whitecaps, so that was a lot less wind than at the Defi wind (even though this year was not very windy). So he was going slower, and it was a shorter session. Anyway, 3 catapults in 80 km all-out racing really does not sound too bad to me. 80 km would be about 3 average foil sessions for me, and if I crash just once per session, I'm quite happy. Trying to push my speed usually results in a crash, or at least an almost-crash, within less than a minute. And I'm sure that I should blame the driver, not the equipment.
After just switching to Starboard last summer, I really hated the idea that they changed the fuse, so that the 3 front wings I have won't work on the new fuse. But on the other hand, I don't like to have to carry two different fuses around if I'm not sure what the wind will do, and the Evolution setup gets rid of that problem, so it's a step in the right direction.
Select to expand quoteBellerophon said..ZeroVix said..WillyWind said..
kinda off topic but I agree with what others are posting about lack of info in the SB website about their products. Some stores are already selling the evolution masts and fuselages but no much info about it.
It is a much better strategy then some other foil manufactures. They promote the product non stop, get new riders and don't have the product. It also has to do with distribution. Starboard foils are distributed from a company in France. Complicated structure with Starboard, Tiki Group, Severne International and Foils Sport.
Evolution wings & fuse are newer design. Mast 300 lower end, 400 IQ (similar) and 600, well you pay for it. 1300 & 1700 wing works with the system. There will be videos coming out soon from a vendor.
Not necessarily: it's been 6 months or more now since the news about the "evolution" series have been emerging through various "leaks" on fb, yt and forum posts.
I can't understand this strategy where customers are beiing "informed" by racers and employees in an unstructured manner, (whilst most of them are not as fluent in english as Nico)
First and foremost new products should be lauched on the official website, where everyone would be able to find the objective information.
Otherwise, you'll get rumours.
You might want to apply for a marketing position then? FYI, 300 & 400 mast are not available. You can still use right now the Evolution fuse & wings with the existing carbon mast. Maybe they wanted to get the existing inventory already out and once the mast are actually available promote the complete new series. Leaked information always happens because people have to test products and people love taking pictures :). Hype also helps a little.
Select to expand quotePaducah said..
ZeroVix said..
Massive recall, warranty, defects.... latest is that QAnon are waiting in Dallas for JFK and new sanded foils to arrive. Of course the rest of the ones using the foils at the races were all crashing too. I heard the 2024 IQ foil is being cancelled too.
Evolution is already in some stores.
This may be an overreaction. It looks like many other racers are using IQfoil and they do not report this issue. It would be nice if someone used evolution could comment how they feel about the new design.
The slalom wings (725 and 650) have been out for many months, maybe a year and they don't have any info about them.
btw, I have a SB foil (1000, 800, and 650 wings) and am happy with it.
Select to expand quoteBellerophon said..
First and foremost new products should be lauched on the official website, where everyone would be able to find the objective information.
Interesting that you see a company web site as source of "objective information". That may be true for specs, but otherwise, it's stuff written by marketing guys.
Many companies have a hard time getting products shipped right now. The last issue of the German Surf magazine explained that they cannot even get boards for their regular tests. Starboard is probably selling a lot of foils about as quickly as they can make and ship them; I have not been able to get a Freeride 1100 for the past 6 months in the US. But according to the main dealer, who is quite knowledgeable and trustworthy, the 300 masts are just renamed carbon masts, the 400s IQFoil masts, and both are currently available in the US (although perhaps with last year's stickers and names).
Does anyone happen to know what the mast thicknesses are of the C400 and C600 Starboard masts? No information on their website :-/
Hi! It's my first post on this forum. I'm love foil slalom and freefoil in wave conditions. First of all sorry about my mistakes in English, I'm from Spain. I just receive my evolution foil with IQ foil mast from a professional windfoiler. The IQ foil mast is exactly the same mast as c400 mast foil. I'm just testing this foil with 95 fuselage, with 725-625-575 evolution front wings, and 255 -2 thin estab. Comparing with my old Starboard gtr+, the feeling is it goes faster with the same wind, and obviously it's more stiff with more control in choppy conditions but the top speed until now it's similar because I thing the rider makes the difference. Now the good season for foiling is beginning, and I hope with more train and settings I can look for the l?mits of this foil, and push my top speed.
Saludos!
Select to expand quoteXavierFerrer said..
Hi! It's my first post on this forum. I'm love foil slalom and freefoil in wave conditions. First of all sorry about my mistakes in English, I'm from Spain.
Welcome. Don't worry about the mistakes. All of us native speakers mess up all the time!
Did you sail with the GTR+ with just the 800 wing or any smaller wings? Wondering how much difference the Evo makes.
Select to expand quotePaducah said..XavierFerrer said..
Hi! It's my first post on this forum. I'm love foil slalom and freefoil in wave conditions. First of all sorry about my mistakes in English, I'm from Spain.
Welcome. Don't worry about the mistakes. All of us native speakers mess up all the time!
Did you sail with the GTR+ with just the 800 wing or any smaller wings? Wondering how much difference the Evo makes.
I sailed with 800-650-550 with my old GTR+ for 4 years(I upgraded my old Starboard slalom foil with new parts every year). The best wing, for me, the 650. I need to sail more with the new equipment to draw conclusions. For the moment the evolution it's not a revolution because the profiles are very close to the olders. With less wind is faster than the GTR. In the other hand here in Mallorca we don't have windy conditions without choppy in winter, very difficult to run fast. The next week I hope I will have more flat water and I can test better the performance of the Evolution. I share a more serious opinion the next weeks. I spoke with a pro who test the new SLR wings, and in this case it look like the performance is close to Phantom foils.
Saludos!
